Comments on: "A Few Words More or Less" (28)

Sharon, l love this post. How wonderfully true about the importance of the poetic
words of the children.
And I totally agree, we are all much happier if everyone listens more. That way
we really give a gift when we answer with deep attention.

Yes, among other reasons. I think you chose to become a teacher, undertaking the proper education for purpose of that accomplishment. I toppled into the field, and had to go back to get the education. Still, we’re both drawn to wanting to be part of empowering people with skills.

Sharon, beautifully capturing the first magic moments of a child’s speech … with so few words, saying so much – often whilst adults jibber on! Your writing here spoke straight to my heart … let us all hear more as we speak less! ❤️

Fabulous observations, Shari! All too true, like “what I learned in kindergarten.” On a tragic note, I see more young moms walking with their children whether in or out of the stroller (or both, if more than one child) talking on their phones! When my mom used to walk with us she would tell us about the world around us. I wonder what children hear in those one-sided cell phone conversations, at ages where they do not totally comprehend language?

You are so right: Children hear everything – listening long before they speak is how they learn to make sense of language and eventually to articulate speech and to communicate well. There are lots of studies about children and language development. Parents speaking and singing to their children, not just around them, is crucial. I read aloud to my sons when they were in utero – and they were both very early readers whose breadth and depth of language was so pronounced that strangers on the street would stop to listen to them talk – when they were just 2 and 3. All that phone texting and cell phone absorption is not good for kids – doesn’t take a survey to figure it out. Maybe you could slip this info to your students as they learn how to enjoy life around them. They could also think how they communicate with the rest of the world, one day perhaps with the most important people in their lives – their own children.

Isn’t the painting exquisite? I’ve always loved it – it says so much about sisters, family, childhood, beauty, and the quality of light he managed gives the scene an ethereal sense. This is how a master shows his skill. I’ve always loved Sargent’s art – they are alive.

Aptly said Sharon. Those first words that a child learns and repeats are always rather interesting to see what are the first things that stick in their mind. Enough importance that they learn those words first. As a woman in Viet Nam once said to us “Stop talking. No more talking!!!” And to this day, it has become our mantra, so worth repeating. Valuable words.

Sharon Lynne Bonin-Pratt began her writing career the way so many others have done: by first doing everything else. Winning entries in grade school art, story, and essay contests convinced her to become a writer, but the real world intruded in adulthood and demanded she pay bills, raise kids, be a contributing member of the community. Along that rutted path she worked in the commercial art field designing patterns for surfer shorts, bikinis, and Hawaiian style shirts, taught after-school art through a city recreation program, and structured an art curriculum for three private schools. Ten years ago the writing muse, struggling to breathe in letters to friends and art articles, found its way to the surface. In a two-week period Shari wrote 60 pages of her first historical novel, and didn’t stop for three years. By then a second book demanded paper – OK, computer space – and now the third is in final revision stage. Of course, final revision is two words with a long shadow and a little footprint. Some folk claim they will write when the floors get vacuumed, the family accounting completed, the new garden planted. Shari is proof that all those things can be successfully ignored but not the urge to write. Her fiction explores human relationships, revenge, rage, forgiveness, redemption, and all the labyrinthine quandaries that mess up otherwise perfect lives. She resides in Southern California with her husband who’s learned to vacuum but not to cook. And the garden needs help.